There are some local artists who are destined for the lime-light, even if Orange County doesn't always have much to offer in that regard. This is something Myndset learned early on in his career as a hip-hop DJ. At the time he went by a different moniker and played every major club in OC feeding the masses their weekly dose of top 40 and hip hop beats. He felt hip hop was getting stale and was drawn by the sounds of electronic music - something that hadn't reached the popularity it has now and which he says "feed his soul." He enrolled in OC Weekly's DJ competition to play at Ultra Music Festival in 2008 and won, landing himself a coveted spot at one of EDM's biggest festivals in the world.

"That was one of the best days of my life and such a cool experience, Myndset says. "I was like it's there for the taking if anyone wants but I can do this. So I practiced the shit out of my routine and brought out all my tricks as a true turntablist." Yet the biggest thing he gained from that experience is that you can make it as a traveling DJ (something he had always dreamed of) and the world was his oyster with hard work and perseverance.

Best known for his roles in the Jay and Silent Bob movies and the endless epic quotes spat out of this fowl little mouth like "Snootchie Bootchies, I am the C.L.I.T. Commander!, and Boo boo kitty fuck," Jason Mewes can be kicked down but he can't be stopped. With a long history of drug use, Jason has overcome and stays on the path of showcasing his skills and his vicious sense of humor. Long gone are his days of Mallrats, Clerks, Dogma, and a bunch more movies that could keep us here all day, but the memories (and the re-watching over and over) of these cult classic we've all grown to know and love will ride or die with us forever.

These days Jason continues to keep it moving with tons of new projects and by co-hosting a wildly popular show with his bestie Kevin Smith aptly called, "Jay and Silent Bob Get Old" on Kevin's Smodcast Internet Radio. Taking the show on the road solidifies the love for Jason's work worldwide and this Friday you'll get to be part of the fun when "Jay and Silent Bob Go Down Under" premieres on EPIX at 10pm (EST). Before all of the shenanigans, laughs, and sex stories that special will be bringing (trust us, we pre-screened it), we got the chance to talk with him to get the scoop on his past, his future, and his ever exciting present.

OC Weekly (Ali Lerman):You and Kevin have done so many projects together and are such good friends but be honest, do you ever get sick of each other?

Jason Mewes: No we actually don't. I think because we don't have a normal friendship. We met when I was thirteen and he was like seventeen. Even before the drugs and everything, I always thought he was cool because Kevin has always been a different kind of dude. He was like an older mentor brother. As time went on and I started using drugs, he tried to help me and he's always been trying to help me out. It's just a different relationship with him. It's hard to explain. People have these weird ego confrontation things and we don't have anything like that. We never fight or argue, there is never anything like that going on.

Halloween debauchery gets one more horrifying gasp tomorrow in downtown Los Angeles when the city is swarmed by electronic dance music fans attending HARD Day of the Dead. In an attempt not to compete with the many dance music festivals going on Halloween weekend, the HARD Haunted Halloween Festival has now been transformed into HARD Day of the Dead, or Dia De Los Muertos for you non-gringos. This Latin celebration is usually held on November 1st and 2nd to coincide with the Catholic All Saints Day and All Souls Day in remembrance of those friends and family who have passed. Starting tomorrow afternoon you can expect lots of kids dressed in Day of the Dead get-ups with a lot of face paint and very little clothing. Boasting four different stages, a Ferris Wheel and even a Holy Ship, the HARD brand has really stepped up it's game after being bought by Live Nation. With a stacked line-up featuring Major Lazer, Knife Party, Tommy Trash and more we put together a list of five must see acts you can't forget about under the Los Angeles city skyline and booming beats.

Halloween is less than a week away, but as you know the EDM scene can stretch out a holiday like nobody's business. And with the potential for slutty costumes and thematic whimsey being at an all time high in October, it's obvious that this is one of the biggest party weekends of the year. No doubt you and your friends have already staked out the parties happening in the most exclusive (i.e. expensive) clubs and events in Los Angeles to San Diego, but why waste your money on gas? You're smarter than that. We broke down a list of the best Halloween parties for our avid electronic music fans right here in Orange County.

Halloween is another excuse to dress up as your favorite characters while sneaking in an extra concert, festival or club night of partying to your favorite music. It seems like venues and promoters are using holidays these days to turn it into a week-long of festivities rather than the typical long weekend a la Memorial and Labor Day. Las Vegas has been doing it in the EDM scene and now it looks like OC is following suit. Identity Management has teamed up with Insomniac Events (founders of EDC) and other local promoters to bring you seven days of spooky celebrations at Sutra in Costa Mesa.

Halloween isn't until next Wednesday, but the celebrations begin tonight with a line-up for every night of the week until All Hallows Eve that is sure to satisfy your EDM needs without even having to ponder attending Monster Massive. The posh lounge will be transformed by various haunted themes and fantasies as some of the world's best DJs provide the soundtrack. Even DJ R3hab's Facebook profile picture announces his "USA Halloween Tour" which includes stops in Vegas, Hallofreaknween Festival in Denver and Sutra tonight. R3hab is sure to kick-start the chainsaw madness of hard-hitting electro and progressive house which out-shined Afrojack on many of their tour dates this year. For house addicts tonight will be the perfect rehab as the DJ fittingly born Fadil El Ghoul kicks off the festivities with opening sounds by Adam Auburn & Darwin Paul, Darreen Correa and Audiostache.

Before embarking on their semi-erotic EDM duo Sex Panther, Ryan Fontana and Aaron Cool were just two regular guys who loved music. They both played guitars and Cool had played the piano as a child. They were fans of electronic dance music attending every show and festival they could. Fontana, a Hawaii bred entrepreneur moved to Orange County to attend Chapman University with an emphasis in film production. While working for the Gotta Dance Dirty music blog on some video projects early last year, he found out that they ran the side room at the infamous club Avalon in Hollywood.

"I asked 'dude, what's deal with that booking could I play there some time," says Fontana. "Jonah [the GDD Founder] was like 'yeah play there on Friday, can you play on CDJs?'" Fontana had no idea how to use CDJs. Those two days leading up to the show he went to Guitar Center for hours to teach himself. Then Newport Beach native, Cool came into the store and they started chatting. "I was like 'I'll give you some drink tickets if you come to Avalon Friday," he says. They exchanged info, but Aaron never made it to the show. They did however, run into each other a couple months later. "We never had the specific intent of starting a DJ duo," says Ryan. Yet here they are, touring all over the world as Sex Panther a little over a year later.

The LA-based DJ/producer Audrey Napoleon is one of the few females on the Identity Festival roster and in the electronic dance music scene today. Following the release of her debut EP Ornamental Egos in July, Audrey has been on tour for the past four-and-a -half weeks playing the album for fans and bringing her underground pop sound to the stage. She played at the Yost Theater in Santa Ana right before the legendary Eric Prydz took over OC on Wednesday evening. We caught up with her backstage before the show to talk about the tour, her fans and future projects.

"Art came to me as a child," says Napoleon. "I grew up in a very creative environment. My dad plays trumpet and drums." She used to sing and do performances at the mall and it was only natural for her to continue into performing and becoming an artist. "I grew up listening to Depeche Mode, The Cure and Kraftwerk," says Audrey. She explored progressive dance music, minimal and many other genres before arriving at her signature sound. "Underground Pop is the dark side of techno that I really love and everything I love about pop music fused together," explains Napoleon.

Before joining Norin & Rad, Bruce Karlsson had been dabbling in producing and other music projects whileNick Sember started spinning hip-hop before transitioning into electronic music. The two met through mutual friends and quickly realized they had a common interest in electronic music. Naturally, they joined forces. But what they created was a bit of a surprise considering their musical backgrounds--an inventive, icy-clean brand of trance that banged inside clubs all over OC. They captured the birth of their sound well in 2010, releasing their Pandemonium/Varuna EP. Lately, big things are happening fast.

After garnering attention on Markus Schulz' Global DJ Broadcast, they were suddenly hailed as the "Breakthrough DJs/Producers of 2011" by English trance heroes Above & Beyond with a remix of their song "Hellion." This weekend these Orange County locals join Jaytech at Insomniac's new "Awakening Fridays" at Exchange LA
for a special Anjunabeats Night Session edition. We caught up with
Nick, aka "Rad," from the group and talked about his transition from a Huntington Beach boy to a touring member of the Anjunabeats family.

​As tomorrow marks International Women's Day, a new photography exhibit Now This is SanTana is set to open in the city's downtown at El Centro Cultural de Mexico.

Through the lens of a camera, Zuleica Zepeda, a local award-winning Xicana indigenous artist and photographer, has collected a series of images over the course of the past four years highlighting SanTana as an Orange County epicenter for art, youth and immigrant social movements.

"It tells the story of the people of Santa Ana," says Zepeda of her first solo exhibit. Zepeda is also co-founder of the Seeds of Resistance women's art collective in the city.